10 October Tussles Worth Watching

As 2011, heads into its home stretch, fighters are trying to
position themselves for a shot at the major leagues, and the Joe
Silvas, Sean Shelbys, Sam Caplans and Keiichi Sasaharas of the MMA
world are paying more attention than ever. Which fighters are
taking on legitimate competition and which ones are simply padding
their records?

In our monthly “10 Tussles” series, we take you around the globe in
an effort to broaden your MMA horizon, showcasing the best fights
that might not get much attention otherwise. This month, we have
ten bouts from eight different countries on four different
continents for you. So fasten your seatbelts and hang on for a
unique ride throughout world MMA.

As always, the list does not focus on the well-promoted main
event bouts from major organizations you already know to watch, but
rather on fights from all over the planet that are worth seeing.
The
UFC, Strikeforce,
Dream
and Sengoku Raiden
Championship are excluded by design.

The United Kingdom’s longest-running promotion, Cage Warriors, is
slowly but surely living up to its 2005-06 heyday, thanks to the
hard work of new director Graham Boylan and encyclopedic matchmaker
Ian Dean. In Cage Warriors’ seventh show this year -- its fourth in
London -- the promoters have lined up their undefeated young
lightweight ace Duffy against Swiss-Italian submission specialist
Musardo. Ireland’s Duffy was a cast member on Season 12 of “The
Ultimate Fighter 12” and has gone 4-0 since leaving the show.
Musardo has trained at Team Nogueira for his shot at the vacant
title.

Among the many traits that make MMA such an exciting sport is the
fact that an almost 30-fight veteran like Pang can go into his
first defense of the LFC lightweight title as an underdog against
somebody with less than a third of his actual in-ring experience.
An announcer’s worst nightmare, Narantungalag has recovered from a
rough start into his MMA career; it saw him go 0-2, including a
highlight-reel knockout at the hands of Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. He
scored a pair of major upsets over Sengoku aces Akihiro Gono
and Kazunori
Yokota in 2010. Let us see what kind of form the 35-year-old is
in after a 10-month layoff.

In the prime of his career and during his run in
Pride Fighting Championships, Fedor
Emelianenko’s estranged brother, Aleksander, would have likely
knocked out an adversary the caliber of Dabrowski in the first
round. However, this is not 2006, and Emelianenko is not nearly in
that kind of shape. That makes a tough, durable and well-rounded
opponent like “Uszol” a very dangerous foe. Question marks for
promoter Strefa Walk will revolve around the condition in which
Emelianenko shows up and how many tickets can be sold for the
event. A week later, Warsaw plays host to the MMA Attack mega
card.

After having to cancel his Aug. 20 clash with jiu-jitsu champion
Sergio
Moraes due to injury, the powerful Trator will return with a
double pack of fights in October. First, he will warm up with a
bout against Holland-based Italian Shooto veteran Paolo
Milano at Ultimate Takedown 3 in Brussels, Belgium on Oct. 8.
Then, he will take on busy Pride veteran Daniel
Acacio at Kumite MMA’s inaugural show in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Despite his muay Thai background, Acacio has not been submitted by
a fellow countryman since his heel hook loss to Rousimar
Palhares in December 2007.

Whenever names are thrown around as most likely additions to the
UFC’s roster ahead of its upcoming Scandinavian expansion,
Helsinki’s Kuivanen may be mentioned most. The 27-year-old
submission specialist is currently riding an eight-fight winning
streak, with solid wins over Erikas
Petraitis, Tim
Radcliffe and Ivan
Buchinger. Trying to prevent the Finn from extending that
streak is Black House veteran Meller. “Minu” has been in there with
some of the best lightweights in Brazil and recently had a
six-fight winning streak of his own snapped.

At 37 years old and still going strong, Somdet remains perhaps
MMA’s most dangerous strawweight fighter. Even though the Thai
assault rifle had to vacate his Shooto 114-pound title in April due
to a partially torn left biceps, it is expected that he will get a
crack at de facto interim champion Junji Ikoma
this winter. Standing between him and reclaiming his gold is a
fight against flyweight Uozumi at the Grabaka gym’s inaugural
event. Contrary to the customs of both fighters, this event will,
as the name suggests, be fought inside the cage.

The time has come for Gugenishvili’s United States debut. The big
Georgian heavyweight was due to fight Pat Bennett
on July 8 but had to cancel the fight with an arm injury suffered
in training.

Now that the 25-year-old sambo specialist is 100 percent healthy,
he will rematch American Top Team’s Kenny
Garner. Garner beat Bennett for a second shot at M-1’s
heavyweight champion. It will be crucial for “Deuce” to keep the
fight upright again if he wants to avoid the same fate he suffered
in their first clash almost exactly a year ago.

After he burst on the scene with two jaw-dropping knockouts against
Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo
Arona, it appeared as if Sokoudjou was destined to become the
first African breakout star in the young history of the sport. Five
years into his tenure and the “African Assassin” has settled into
being a solid player on the free agent circuit, even though he
still hovers around the .500 mark. Jimmo, perhaps Canada’s top
light heavyweight prospect, needs this final victory -- it would be
his 16th in a row -- to finally punch his ticket to the UFC.
However, Sokoudjou spoiled similar hopes for Jan
Blachowicz earlier this year.

Perhaps a little overshadowed by the bigger names of Katsunori
Kikuno, Ryo Chonan and
Kazunori
Yokota, this gem of an evenly matched bantamweight fight stands
on its own. While both men have had their ups and downs, there is
no denying their quality, which easily ranks them among the Top 5
Japanese 135-pounders. This will be an intriguing chess match
between former King of Pancrase Maeda’s enormous punching power --
it has yielded him 14 of his 28 career wins -- and Nakamura’s iron
top control on the mat, which has stifled 12 of his 17 career
opponents.

The major welterweight clash outside of the UFC has finally
materialized, as
Bellator Fighting Championships Season 4 welterweight
tournament winner Hieron gets his shot at reigning champion
Askren’s title. Both fighters have been away from the cage for half
a year. Askren was last seen retiring Nick
Thompson in April, while Hieron clinched the tournament victory
with a close decision over Rick Hawn.
Even though Askren has worked diligently on his striking with
former world kickboxing champion Duke Roufus, the sticking point
will be if Hieron, himself a Div. I wrestler, will be able to stop
the Olympians takedowns.

Follow Tim Leidecker on Twitter at @TimLeidecker or contact him
at www.facebook.com/Rossonero1.